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Latin leaders aim for shared front on drug fight
17 Jan 2009 03:40:34 GMT
 Source: Reuters
PANAMA CITY, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico and Panama vowed on Friday to unite to crush warring drug gangs in Latin America by sharing crucial intelligence, clamping down on money laundering and extraditing more top capos.

"Organized crime could destroy us all if we do not come together to fight it," Colombian President Alvaro Uribe said at a meeting of the country's four leaders at a beach resort in Panama.

Latin American nations have long been divided in the fight against powerful drug cartels, reluctant to share information and doing little to stop the laundering of drug profits in real estate and banking.

But the drug war has escalated dramatically over the past two years, particularly in Mexico where 5,700 people were killed in 2008 as drug gangs fight each other and battle troops and federal police sent in by President Felipe Calderon.

Guatemala and Panama have also seen a sharp upsurge in violence and Colombia remains the world's top cocaine producer despite massive U.S. anti-drug aid.

Panama's President Martin Torrijos said organized crime and drug trafficking represented "strategic threats to national security and the viability of democratic states" in Latin America.

The regional leaders gave few specifics on their joint fight but said in a statement that they agreed to work toward a "single legal instrument open to all countries in the region" that would create common rules in the way they fight drug kingpins.

Other Central American nations Costa Rica, Nicaragua and El Salvador, which do not suffer as much drug violence though they are key transit countries for U.S.-bound narcotics, were not present at the meeting and it was not clear if they would be included in the pact.

Washington is increasingly concerned about the violence in Latin America and is channeling $1.4 billion in a three-year aid package to Mexico and Central America to buy surveillance equipment and train police and judges. (Reporting by Andrew Beatty, editing by Philip Barbara)


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A member of the Palestinian community holds flags of Guatemala and Palestine during a protest against Israel's recent military actions in the Gaza Strip, in Guatemala City January 9, 2009. REUTERS/Rodrigo ...


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Last updated:Sat Jan 17 03:42:40 2009